According to the Seattle Times, Microsoft's upcoming portable doohickey plans on being more than an "Ipod killer". Code named : ARGO it aims to kill the PSP and DS as well. Is it me or does Microsoft just seem to have too much money laying around? I always lose track, but I believe Microsoft is sitting on something like $53 billion dollars in cash. I am not sure what they are saving it for, but most sensible folks would go out and spend it on something. In the business world this would be acquiring other companies. Heck MS could almost buy Boeing if they wanted to. Be the largest Aerospace-Software company in the world instead of just the largest Software company. That or give the shareholders the cash and let them invest it ... or spend it on an Ipod ... or ... whatever. Alas Microsoft feels that the best way to spend its cash is to build divisions that lose buckets of money. It is estimated that MS has lost $2 billion on its games endeavor. Of course with Sony looking that way it is that $2B bet may turn out pretty good in the end.

Not content to just lose $2B Microsoft is widely rumored and now confirmed to be working on a portable device. The problem is the Ipod is near perfect. When I owned my first Rio MP3 player I could barely fit a CD on the thing, memory was expensive and the doohickey looked ... well ... totally fugly. If anyone was going to create the dominant portable music player this was the time. I can only imagine what was on the Ipod product development team's whiteboard, "lots of songs, not ugly". Seems obvious now, but back then it was considered "revolutionary".

Here is the Microsoft product development team's whiteboard, "lots of songs, not ugly, plays games". What they seem to be describing is the PSP. The PSP is beautiful, plays videos, music, games and connects to the Internet. The problem is that ARGO is already the PSP killer, because the PSP is dead. Well ... ok ... not dead. However, I own a PSP, I love my PSP and I have no idea where the damn thing is in my house. I haven't bothered to look for it since I really have no reason to use it. Between the bad games and infuriating load times the PSP is a horrible portable gaming device. The DS is a great little portable game system; small, cheap, with wonderful games you can play instantaneously in the 5-10 minutes you have waiting for the subway. The DS embraces the slightly Japanese aesthetic of, "less is more". This just does not seem to be Microsoft's way.

I have a sneaking feeling the ARGO will play music, movies, games and connect to the Internet. ARGO will probably also be the Homer Simpson car for regular guys.

Ok, theres was a lot in there, so I would like ot p ick it apart.

According to the Seattle Times, Microsoft's upcoming portable doohickey plans on being more than an "Ipod killer". Code named : ARGO it aims to kill the PSP and DS as well.

Well, thats just so so stupid. People who sweriously think the ARGO can defeat trhe DS or PSP are like the people who think that Nintendo is going to put the PS3 out of business. One, there are perhaps millions of people out there who wn a DS. They love it, and cherish. Its pretty much the biggest handheld since the gameboy. The PSP has some handfuls of fanboys out there too. And besides that, if it somehow does manage to become the iPod of gaming, just like the PS3 and 360, there are uber-fanboys who would throw life and limb for their DSs and PSPs, and the systems somehow do survive on the tiny little vein of income. The rumors that something will topple something are almost always just hype. Besides that, the DS is at the top of its popularity. It would be like saying Everquest 3 will eventaully topple WoW, which is at the top of its game. Its ridiculous.

Alas Microsoft feels that the best way to spend its cash is to build divisions that lose buckets of money. It is estimated that MS has lost $2 billion on its games endeavor. Of course with Sony looking that way it is that $2B bet may turn out pretty good in the end.

I thought, according to Pointless Waste of Time, it was much more than that. Could be wrong though.

However, I own a PSP, I love my PSP and I have no idea where the damn thing is in my house. I haven't bothered to look for it since I really have no reason to use it. Between the bad games and infuriating load times the PSP is a horrible portable gaming device.

Yea, I actually know very few people who use it as a gaming device. Most people who own it use it as a music or video holder. The games that is has are few and still manage ot suck. I think the main one people like are Liberty City Stories. That's about it.

The DS is a great little portable game system; small, cheap, with wonderful games you can play instantaneously in the 5-10 minutes you have waiting for the subway. The DS embraces the slightly Japanese aesthetic of, "less is more".

I can see someone is enjoying their new DS. Yes, it really is a good system. Easy to play, and really fun games.

My theory is that, as I would spend my gazillions of dollars in, say, building me an hype-uber-gaming PC, or buying a .com for my website, or convincing Audrey Tautou to make out with Evangeline Lilly and have it all on tape; Microsoft gets its kicks by throwing theirs out of the window with those nonsensical projects, simply because they can afford it.